Thursday, 19 March 2015

El Djem or El Jem

I took this photo
while on a visit to North Africa. It was before all the recent
political motivated 'Arab Spring' uprisings took place. I enjoyed a
day return rail journey from Sousse to visit El Djem or El Jem as
both spellings seem to be acceptable. El Djem is a small, almost
nondescript Arab town, which is located some distance out in the
Sahel desert. El Djem however, attracts many thousands of visitors
each year. This is because in the third century AD the Romans built a
magnificent 'Amphitheatre'.

The El Djem
amphitheatre today is like the pyramids in Egypt, included on the
UNESCO world heritage list. Most tourists come here just to see the
remarkably well preserved 2000 year old remains. You can wander
around at will and as well as the remains, you can see graffiti
inscribed into the brick work. Some of it dates from around 1600 and
is Arabic. However the majority of graffiti is from 1939-45 the
period of WWII. When during the north African campaign the town
changed hands several times.

I sat for a while just
drinking in the atmosphere of the place when a very ethereal event
happened. It started with the feint sound of voices singing, which
gradually over time got louder and louder. Until eventually a group
of German tourists emerged from the underground tunnels and out into
the sunshine in the centre of the amphitheatre. As they emerged they
were in a line, one behind the other. Each had a hand on the shoulder
of the person in front. They were singing 'silent night' a hymn/carol
that has connections with the first world war. This year being the
100th anniversary of the 'Great War' makes that memory even more
powerful.

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The Motley Crew

Mike described as 'Jack Dee in deck shoes' and a grumpy old curmudgeon who hates to see our wildlife and countryside destroyed. Maggie - a strong willed and fiesty biker. Poppy and Abbey - two strong willed and even more fiesty Wire Haired Fox Terriers.